


I'm Sorry

by RangerSargey



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-28 22:03:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21399364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RangerSargey/pseuds/RangerSargey
Summary: "Sir, I need to take the coat."
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Comments: 5
Kudos: 83





	I'm Sorry

Roy clung to the jacket like it was a lifeline, and perhaps it was. He couldn’t bring himself to care that his fingers were knotted so tightly in the fabric that it was wrinkling beneath his touch, and he didn’t even care that the red fabric was quickly turning cold and damp against his cheeks. 

It smelled like cold hard steel and oil. Sweat. Shampoo. Smoke. Just like the owner. 

After he went home the smell would linger, leaving reminders in his day to day activities. The scent would linger on pillow cases, giving him a quick whiff as he rolled over in bed. On the couch, settling down to read. Preparing his morning coffee, wearing the robe so often stolen. All fleeting. Eventually the smell would die away with time. 

So would the hurt they said. 

He didn’t think anything could cure this hurt. 

A gentle hand was on his shoulder but he didn’t bother to look up. He didn’t want gentle or warm. He wanted cold hard steel, as firm in it’s resolve as the man attached. 

“Sir,” It was Riza. “I need to take the coat.” 

Roy shook his head, knotting his fingers further into the fabric, face buried in what would have been the crook of the neck. 

“Alphonse is on his way,” Riza told him, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “We need to give the coat to him.” 

Logically, Riza was correct, and he knew that. But right now, it was the only thing keeping him together, as if holding the coat tightly to him would keep him from crumbling in a hard hospital chair. He couldn’t fall apart behind this coat. The coat wouldn’t allow it. 

Roy couldn’t find words to protest, just bowed his head, shielding his face and the coat. 

There was a small sound of shuffling next to him, and arms snaking around his shoulders, fingers buried in his hair. They would leave gently, he knew. There were no metal joints to snag, and somehow that hurt worse than the ripped out hairs ever could. 

He couldn’t help the terrible shake the racked his shoulders, or the ugly sob that followed. He was going to get snot on the coat and then it would have to be washed and it would never smell right again.

He let his arms drop from his face, falling limp in his lap and he switched from a fiery determined red to no-nonsense military blue. 

Riza gently rubbed at his scalp as he cried into her shoulder, saying nothing. 

After some moments passed, she pulled away gently, pulling her fingers from his hair to rest on his knee. Fingers so close to the pile of red in his lap. 

“I’m sorry, sir.” She gently grabbed the garment, pulling it loose from Roy’s limp fingers. He couldn’t even muster the strength to grasp for it as the cloth slipped by. 

“I’m sorry,” She whispered against the top of his head, hand cupping his head gently. Roy wasn’t paying attention, all he could focus on was the fabric gripped securely to her chest. So close, yet so far from Roy’s reach now. 

  
*****  
  
  


Al’s train was due any moment. 

Roy stood beside Riza now, trying to hard to stand up straight and look presentable. He must look a wreck, he knew. His face still felt puffy and he knew his uniform wasn’t up to pristine military standards. 

Al didn’t know yet. 

As the doors opened and waves of people emerged, Roy found Alphonse almost immediately. The gold was different but he was so used to finding that hair in a crowd that it seemed to draw him like a magnet. 

Al was looking around the station, looking absolutely wretched from worry. 

Roy bit the inside of his cheek, trying to hold himself together for this. 

The second Al caught his eye, we watched the young man’s face crumble from worry to despair. Roy didn’t even realize he was walking toward the man until he was gently gripping his elbow. 

“We have a car waiting.” 

Al blinked hard and fast for several moments, pursing his lips in determination, not allowing a single tear to shed.

The walk to the car was quick, but it felt like it had taken them an eternity to make it. Al was first in, followed quickly by Riza and Roy.

Riza wasted no time, reaching into the bag by her feet and presenting Al with the coat that Roy had cried to violently into earlier, now neatly folded into a square, flamel proudly displayed. 

Al did not press the cloth to his face, just stared at it in shock, fingers loosely gripping the fabric. 

It took several long moments, but Al’s face crumpled, bowing his head in silent misery. Roy never would have known he was crying if it weren’t for the dark spots quickly appearing on the coat. 

Roy reached out, placing a gentle hand on Al’s knee, head bowed similarly. 

When he felt the shaking, he was not sure whether it was Al or himself. 

*****  
  


Roy didn’t know how much later it was when Alphonse approached him in the hallway, coat still gripped in his hands. 

Al didn’t say a single word as he thrust the coat out at Roy. Roy looked at the man in disbelief, slowly reaching out to take it. 

Roy held the bundle carefully, as if even breathing on it wrong would break it. Al hadn’t quite taken his hands from the coat yet as he spoke. 

“He loves… loved you. He would have wanted you to have it.” Al spoke softly, looking at the coat instead of Roy, then dropping his hands. 

“Thank you, Alphonse.” Roy whispered.

Roy held the coat to his chest, wrapping the younger man in a one-armed hug. 

“I’m sorry.”

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a tumblr post. Link pending


End file.
